Determiners
Demonstrative determiners
forms
Demonstrative determiners (‘this’, ‘these’, ‘that’ or ‘those’) are used to point out things or people. They are also sometimes called demonstrative adjectives (in French ‘adjectifs démonstratifs’); they agree in number and gender with the noun they introduce.
| Masculine singular: ce Masculine singular before a vowel sound: cet |
ce tatou cet écureuil |
this armadillo this squirrel |
| Feminine singular: cette | cette chatte | this cat (female) |
| Plural (masculine or feminine): ces | ces tatous ces écureuils |
these armadillos these squirrels |
Note that liaison is compulsory between ces and words starting with a vowel or a silent h.
uses
In general, demonstrative determiners designate something one can see or show:
| Tex explique: Ce bassin, c’est Barton Springs. Cette piscine s’appelle Deep Eddy. | Tex explains: This pool is Barton Springs. This swimming pool is Deep Eddy. |
-ci and -là
Demonstrative determiners can designate something close or far away: in order to distinguish between two or more elements, you can add the suffixes -ci or -là to the demonstrative determiner. The suffix -ci indicates that the item is relatively near to the speaker; -là suggests that something is farther away. In English, they are generally translated by ‘this’ and ‘that’:
| Tex: Tu vois Tammy, cette étoile–ci s’appelle Vénus. Mais ces étoiles–là, c’est la Voie lactée. | Tex: See Tammy, this star (here) is called Venus. But those stars (there), are the Milky Way. | |
| Tammy: Venus … la voie lactée … oh Tex, j’aime bien quand tu me parles d’astronomie! | Tammy: Venus … the Milky Way … oh, Tex, I like it when you talk to me about astronomy! |
Listen to the dialogue:
| Tex et Tammy sont dans le rayon femmes de J. C. Penney. | Tex and Tammy are in the women’s section of J. C. Penney. | |
| Tammy: Qu’est-ce que tu penses de ce maillot-ci? | Tammy: What do you think of this bathing suit? | |
| Tex: Ah non! Je n’aime pas du tout cette couleur. | Tex: Oh no! I don’t like this color at all. | |
| Tammy: Et ce bikini? Ce sera parfait pour cet été. Tu ne trouves pas? | Tammy: What about this bikini? It will be perfect for this summer, don’t you think? | |
| Tex: Quelle horreur! Ce tissu est complètement démodé! | Tex: It’s horrible! This fabric is completely outdated! | |
| Tammy: Mais Tex, tu n’as aucun goût! Tu crois que ce vieux béret que tu portes est à la mode? | Tammy: Tex, you have no taste whatsoever! You think that this old beret you wear is fashionable? |
